Device for controlling a supply of water for irrigation or other purposes



R. G. KENNEDY.

THE ROYAL TRUST COMPANY EXECUTOR AND TRUSTEE or THE WILL or SAID n. G. KENNEDY, nzcu. DEVICE FOR CONTROLLING A SUPPLY OF WATER FOR IRRIGATION OR OTHER PURPOSES.

Patented Aug. 23, 1921.

3 SHEETS-SHEET 1.

7 APPLICATION FILED SEPT. 19, 1918. 1,388,723.

cm QM R. G; KENNEDY. THE ROYAL TRUST COMPANY :xscuron ANDITHUSTEE or TH; WILL or SAID n. G. KENNEDY, DEC'D.

DEVICE FOR CONTROLLING A SUPPLY OF WATER FOR IRRIGATION OR OTHER PURPOSES.

APPLICATION FILED SEPT. 19, 1918. 1,388,723, Patented Aug. 23, 1921.

3 SHEETS-SHEET 2- R. G. KENNEDY.

THE ROYAL TRUST COMPANY EXECUTDR AND TRUSTEE OF THE WILL or SAID R. G. KENNEDY, nzc'o. DEVICE FOR CONTROLLING A SUPPLY OF WATER FOR IRRIGATION OR OTHER PURPOSES.

APPLICATION FILED SEPT- l9| P918.

3 SHEETS-SHEET 3v :1 ["6- a I: IF Tai m C 17 D2 -Jr2 E W -12? 11:: I IY1K] LI I J zvgy lzzoaergay UNITED STATES PATENT OFFICE ROBERT G. KENNEDY, OF SIDNEY, VANCOUVER ISLAND, CANADA; THEBDYAL TRUST COMPANY EXEC'UTOR AND 'XRUS'IEE THE WILL OF SAID ROBERT G. KENNEDY, y

DECEASED.

DI'IVICEFOR CONTROLLING A SUPPLY 011 WATER FOR IRRIGATION OR OTHER PURPOSES.

Specification of Letters Patent.

Patented Aug. 23, 1921.

Application filed September 19, 1918. Serial No. 254,795.

To all whom it may concern Be it known that l, Romnrr Gums Kenirnor, a subject of the King of Great Britain, residing in Sidney, Vancouver Island, Gunada, have invented a certain new and useful Device for Controlling a Supply oi Water for Irrigation or other Purposes, of which the following is a specification.

This invention relates to an improved dcvice for controlling the distribution oi water with the object of insuring any fixed or required definite supply; however, the conditions usually ail'ccting the supply may vary; the discharge actually passing being corrcctly indicated by inspection, and the total quantity previously delivered being also shown, while all the usual practical require ments are fulfilled.

In the accompanying drawings. Figure l is a general index sketch in section sliowing the general action of my invention in a case where a supply of water is drawn out of? a channel down into an outfall pipe or lluine and discharging into an outfall. Fig. 2 is an enlarged section of parts at the entrance of the flumc, as indicated in Fig. 1, showing also means Cl'fill regulating the entrance oi: supply from the clgrnnol. F 3 is a sectional elevation oi? the parts in Fig. 2 looking so in the direction of the arrow in that llgurc. l e.- is an enlarged section of the upper zit oi Fig. 9 .ihowii'ig how regulation is oh j ectcd and d' urges indicated on scales and *ecorded. l to. 5 is a horizontal cross seco't Fig. 4i. Fig. 6 shows a ion on line V V horizontal cross section on line -l l fl oi l ig. l; and Fig. T is also a. cross section on the line l ll-l ll oi- Fig. 4i.

In the drawings 1? denotes a. canal or sup- 40 ply channel from which water is drawn down into an outfall pipe or iiumc P P which is shown passing under an embanluncnt P and discharging into an outfall The water level in channel P may be vzu'iable but is hereinafter taken as that indicated by X, i

the outfall level being presumed at Y.

The exit orifice from the canal or channel P may be from any level, but usually would be just above or just below the canal or channel bed level. It extends down through a bell mouthed opening through a cast ring C which is preferably of the form shown in Fig.2. At the base of this opening or ring the currentis deflected by an adjustable suspended coned member B and caused to flow 'adially between the outer surface of the cone B and the inner surface of a second hollow covering cone formed by a casting or molding A; the space or passage formed between the two members A and B providing a gradually increasing waterway or flow, which causes a decreasing velocity. The flow passage around cone B is continued underneath it, the water flowing there being confined to a suitably curved chamber or basin which is formed by means of appropriately shaped or curved concrete or other blocks N, N (Figs. 2 and 3) and which leads the flow into the .outl'fall pipe P P with out any undue shock or loss of head. The most contracted area of the waterway is between the lower rim of the ring C and the cone B, and this is the point to which all discharge measurements are referred, where the velocity will be highest. Below this point the velocity will gradually decrease, and the pressure head will (according to a well-known hydraulic law) consequently gradually increase till it is just enough to force its way out through the pipe P P into the outfall Q. I

he upper part of the covering cone A is furthershaped so as to form an annular open space or ring M around ring C into which air will be drawn through a hollow standard D oi? any suitable section, by means of the duct 1), tor-med in the casing A, air being admitted to the interior of the standard through numerous small inlet. holes D provided in the standard above the water surface otthe canal or channel P as shown .in Figs. 2 and 3. The ring C is shown as a separate casting from the cone A, the two bemg held firmly 111 then correct positions in situ by a concrete surrounding N Fig. 2.

The bottom oi the annular air space or ring M, around the ring (.l, is left open to the flow of water passing there, so that the pressure on the water surface at that point is just the atmospheric pressure, so long as there is a sullicient difference of level h, (Fig. 1) between the water level X in channel P and the water level .Y in outfall channel Q to prevent any back pressure in the air ring M. Such required minimum head h being provided, the discharge passing below the ring this channel P M will, under ordinary hydraulic laws, be the same as that through a similar orifice discharging into the openair, that is to say it will .be proportional to the square root of the pressure head measured from the surface just below the ring M up to the water level in channel P, which head is shown as h, in Fig. 2. The discharge volume passing will also, of course, be'proportional to the area of waterway below the ring which I designate as (1 and also to some constant coeflicient 0 found by experiment as applicable to this form ofiorificeg' so that the saiddischarge will be equal to c o 7L3, and the velocity dueto the pressure'head It, will be greater than that due to the working head or head arising from the diflerence of water level'in the supplyand outfall channels. But b raising or lowering the suspended cone we can vary the area (1,, and since also the factor hi or difference of level, does not appear in this expression, we have by device arrivedat the means of varying the discharge Without altering the level in (i. e. by, varying a and also have eliminated the efi'ect of variations in the outfall level of channel Q. Also since for any given value of a, the discharge volume simply varies as we can graduate a scale to show discharge volume for any given value of b which may be read off tion, as will be explained below.

The cover cone A is bolted down to the base blocks N and the standard D is bolted downto A at one side of the ring or orifice C, the internal cone B being suspended from a bracket E attached to the top of standard D, by a rod K which is adapted to be screwed I up Or down by adjustable locking nuts F and G thereon. These two nuts are are capable of being used and locked separately by means of key bars G Figs. 4 and 7. The lower locking V nut F may be regarded as mainly a means of opening or closing the whole outlet by lowering or raising the adjustable cone B. When the invention is employed in irrigation systems where the supply of water is under the control of oflicials the adjustment of the nut F might in many cases be left to the user or farmer to operate, while the adjustment of the nut G would usually be done by the oflisimilar, but

' cial in charge, and readjustableby him from time to time for varying conditions of de mand and supply. The upper locking nut'G wouldbe used to fix and lock at any desired maximum discharge, after the outlet has been opened by adjusting the lower nut F Fig. 4 shows the adjustment where the passage between themembers B and C is closed, and the discharge is zero, 2'. e. both nuts fully screwed down with the suspendin extreme closed position. thus closing theentire orifice between B and C.

by inspec Fig. 2 shows the device o n and locked by the nut G to give a pre etermined discharge and no more.

The suspending bar or rod K has its surface planed oil for part of its length (as shown in Figs. 4, 6 and 7) to form a smooth key seat K against which the keys of nuts G and F are driven through suitable slots in each nut, there being four such slots in each nut, so that each nut when screwed up or down on the screw threads shown on rod K can be locked at any position corresponding to heights, raised or lowered, of one fourth of a complete turn. The number of turns of the locking nuts would be an index of the amount the outlet was open and of the area of waterway (1 which was open, but not a convenient index, and, moreover, as the total lift of the cone B will be comparatively small it would not be a particularly accurate index, and therefore the following arrangement is preferably adopted.

The upper locking nut G is rigidly connected or cast in one piece with a hollow cylinder H, and as shown in Fig. 5 this cylinder has two internal vertical grooves, and in these grooves the heads of the two set screws J, can slide up and down, said set screws being screwed into an inner cylinder J which is hollow for a portion of its length as shown in Figs. 2, 3 and l. The two cylinders H and J therefore must revolve together. The suspending rod K has two separate and dissimilar screw threads cut on it. The upper part of the rod (above the coupling K shown in Fig. 4) has a lefthand thread cut on it which screws into the upper cylinder J, and the lower part of rod K (below the said coupling) has a right-hand thread cut on it szrewing into the locking nut G connected to the base of the lower cylinder H. When locking, nut

is turned, the cylinder H also revolves and turns the cylinder J which at the same time slides up or down in the two grooves in H, the two cylinders telescoping into each other. Thus in Fig. 4, where the outlet is shown as closed, to open it the nut G will be unscrewed by left-handed revolutions which will cause the cylinder J to slide into cylinder H for a distance, corresponding to the sum of the pitches of the two screws. The action is in fact similar to that of an ordinary turn-buckle used to tighten up cables. By using suitable pitches for the screws, the distance the cylinder J slides into H can be made several times greater than the distance that cone B is moved up by rod K. Advantage may be taken of the increased accuracy arising from the relatively great sliding movement of cylinder J to draw on the outer surface of cylinder J vertical scales to indicate discharges, since the distancev that cylinder J slides down into cylinder H ependent oi: the level in U mu 1 t mu 3 t 0 mm when her li is lowered will i'e 1 'ese11t the eeaile e1- gzige meii'kej ml l.) as she stein nature 01: the 2 (l the best mew e l mums l l to practical e weanling being; taken 1 l .0 Mil WI. 1

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ply eh usually ebt annel a 13 7 per end with the supply passage open to the atmosphere and in communication with the contracted part of the flume, means for altering the area of flow in the contracted part whereby the dis charge is varied in proportion to such change ofarea provided the supply level is constant, and mechanism automatically controlled by the operation of said means for indicating the discharge passing through said contracted part of the flume.

5. In devices for controlling water supply, the combination of a flume having contracted and expanded parts, connecting a supply chan el with an outfall channel, a passage open to the atmosphere and in communication with the contracted part of the flume, means for altering the area of flow of the contracted part of the flume whereby the discharge is varied in proportion to such change of area provided the supply level is constant, and mechanism automatically con trolled bythe operationoi said means for indicating in greater magnitude the extent of the change in area and graduations cooperating with said indicating means for giving the discharge passing through the flume for various values of the supply level. 6. A device for controlling the supply of water from a supply channel to an outfall channehcomprising a flume having a bell mouth inlet ring communicating at its upchannel and at its a lower end with a downwardly and radially flowing hollow cone-like chamber leading to the outfall channel, a conical member suspended within and coaxially 'ith the said chamber and having a downwardly flaring wall arranged to form with the wall of the chamber a passage of gradually increasing cross sectional area for the flow of the water, an annular air supply channel encircling the lower end of the inlet ring, the lower end of the air channel being open to the water flowing from the ring, and means for raising and lowering the conical member in axial directions with respect to the hollow coned chamber to vary the waterway area ofthe passage.

7. A device for controlling the supply of water from a supply channel, comprising a flume having a bell mouth inlet ring communicating at its upper end with the supply channel and at its channel to an outfall lower end with a downwardly and radially flowing hollow cone-like chamber leading to the outfall channel, a conical member suspended within and coaxially with the said chamber and having a downwardly flaring wall arranged to form with the wall of the chamber a passage of gradually increasing cross sectional area for the flow of the water, an annular air supply channel encircling the lower end of the inlet ring, the lower end of the air channel being open to the water flowing from the ring, means for raising and lowering the conical member in axial directions with respect to the hollow coned chamber to vary the water-' Ta area of the passage, means controlled by the first said means for indicating on magnified scale the extent of the rising and falling movements of the conical member and means controlled by said movements for automatically indicating the supply passing at anytime.

S. A device for controlling the supply of water from a supply channel to an outfall channel, comprising a flume having a bell mouth inlet ring communicating at its upper end with the supply channel and at its lower end with a downwardly flowing hollow cone-like chamber leading to the outfall channel, a conical member suspended within and coaxially with the said chamber and having a downwardly flaring wall arranged to form with the wall of the chamber a passage of gradually increasing cross sectional area for the flow of the water, an annular air supply channel encircling the lower end of the inlet ring, the lower end or the air channel being opento the water flowing from the ring, means for raising and lowering the conical member in axial directions with respect to the hollow coned chamber to vary the waterway area of the passage, means controlled by the first said means for indicating on magnified scale the extent of the rising and falling movements of the conical member and means controlled by said movements for automatically indicating the supply passing at any time, and means for recording the total supply discharged during any given period.

In testimony whereof I have signed my name to this s ecification.

fiOBERT G. KENNEDY. 

